


Mint Two-Lips

by siderealSandman



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akuma Who Can't Work, Established Relationship, F/M, Kiss Reveal, Lipstick Reveal, Reveal Fic, one-sided reveal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 14:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10595997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siderealSandman/pseuds/siderealSandman
Summary: Marinette thought she would never taste anything sweeter than Adrien's sweet, minty flavored lips...until she tasted the exact same flavor on Chat Noir's mouth.





	

Marinette couldn’t claim she knew everything there was to know about Adrien—she had only known him for a year, and had only been dating him for a handful of months, after all. But of all the things she had learned about her boyfriend, Marinette had three particular favorites.

1) Adrien Agreste had pretty green eyes.

2) Adrien Agreste was unfailingly kind.

3) Adrien Agreste had soft, pliant lips that always seemed to taste like mint when he kissed her.

The last point came as something of a shock when he first kissed her, leaning in and clumsily bumping his mouth against hers at the end of their third date. The fact that he kissed like a fifteen year old home-schooled student didn’t matter; the cool, sweet spearmint lip balm tingled even after Adrien pulled back with a sheepish smile.

His lip balm had quickly become her favorite flavor, and even though she knew the brand he used by heart, Marinette would never dream of buying any for herself. That specific flavor of spearmint had become synonymous with stolen pecks between classes, and lingering make-out sessions in the hallways after school, and she tasted it enough to never really miss it. The smell of mint had become such an integral part of dating Adrien that even a whiff of brewing Moroccan tea made her heart flutter. It was cool, soothing, and sweet; just like Adrien was. And Marinette relished every chance she got to taste it warm against his lips.

She was sure that she would never taste anything as sweet...until, that is, she tasted Chat Noir’s lips.

* * *

“Akuma attack,” Alya whispered, elbowing Marinette in the side and distracting her from an extremely gooey text session with Adrien.

Marinette’s heart dropped, subtly glancing over at Alya’s phone, open to the #AkumaWarning Twitter feed. “How close?”

“Not too far,” Alya said, chewing on her lower lip anxiously. “No sign of Ladybug or Chat Noir yet…if they don’t show up soon-”

Alya trailed off as the loudspeaker crackled and whined over Ms. Bustier’s head.

“ _Attention students,”_ a tinny, pre-recorded voice chirped as Ms. Bustier sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “ _An akuma has been sighted on or around school grounds. All students should proceed to the gymnasium in a quick and orderly fashion as soon as possible and await further instructions.”_

The Akuma Safety System (affectionately called ASS by half the students and Ms. Bustier) was a paltry gesture on the part of the mayor to make it look like he had some grip on the resident supervillain problem. Privately, Marinette thought lumping all the students together in one, easily attackable place was a bad idea, but the school board didn’t take the opinions of teenagers into account when creating safety measures.

“Alright,” Ms. Bustier sighed. “I suppose the July Revolution will have to wait until our resident evil mastermind has finished his temper tantrum. Try not to be _too_ disappointed.”

Kim and Ivan’s cries of jubilation were almost swallowed by the hubbub of slamming books and zipping backpacks as the class began their exodus out of the classroom. Before Marinette could devise of a way to slip away from the pack, she felt a familiar hand rest on the small of her back, steering her out of the way of a stream of students that stampeded towards the door.

“Hawkmoth couldn’t take the week off, could he?” Adrien chuckled, arm looping around Marinette’s waist almost protectively. She thought it was endearing the way Adrien always gravitated towards her side at the first mention of an akuma attack, as though _he_ thought he could protect _her_ if an akuma swooped in and decided to attack them.

Then again, he had no idea she was actually Ladybug.

She toyed with the idea of telling Adrien so many times, but every time she came back to the fact that it was just _safer_ if Adrien didn’t know. As uncomfortable as it made her to keep her boyfriend in the dark, she couldn’t chance Hawkmoth akumitizing Adrien and figuring out who Ladybug really was. Loathe as she was to start their relationship off with a lie, she wasn’t going to give her enemies a chance to use Adrien as leverage against her.

“Tell me about it,” Marinette laughed, glancing up at the windows suspiciously as they filed down the hallway. Dating Adrien, surprisingly, did little to assuage her fears of him being attacked by akuma. “Hopefully Ladybug and Chat Noir sort this out soon.”

“I’m sure they will,” Adrien said with a small nod, feeling around his pockets for something. “They always do, don’t they?”

“Did you forget something?” Marinette asks, stopping off to the side of the hallway as their classmates filed past them.

“My phone,” Adrien said with a sheepish smile. “Think I left it in my desk…you don’t mind if I-”

“No, that’s fine,” Marinette said, breathing a small sigh of relief. Sneaking away from Adrien had (surprisingly) been easier than she thought it would be. He never seemed to raise an eyebrow at her frequent disappearances, or if he did, he kept his suspicions to himself. “Just, uh…be safe, okay?”

“You too,” Adrien said, offering her a shaky smile and brief peck on the lips as he turned to go. Even with the threat of superpowered mayhem looming over her, Marinette couldn’t help but watch Adrien go with a fond smile. Less than a year ago she had been nervous just talking to him; now they had settled into such a comfortable, affectionate routine as Adrien’s normally reserved façade slowly melted away.

“Marinette!”

Tikki’s voice shook her out of her daydreaming as Adrien disappeared from sight. With a quick glance around to make sure no one was watching, Marinette darted down the hallway, looking for an open door she could dip inside and transform in. As per school safety rules, nearly every door she tried was locked, even the bathrooms as hall monitors went around, herding students towards the gymnasium to wait the fight out. Marinette went along quietly with the herd, before stealing down a side hallway, pressing against every door she passed with no luck as she headed towards the stairs leading towards the roof.

A distant _bang_ echoed somewhere above her, sending a shower of plaster raining on her head as Marinette took stairs two at a time. She never quite knew what she was in for when Hawkmoth decided to take his freakshow on tour; only that there was no such thing as a run of the mill akuma attack. They had run the gauntlet from evil mimes, to fire breathing dragons, to-

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!”

A bellowing roar came from the other side of the door, and Marinette managed to get out of the way as two black-clad figures crashed through the door and down onto the landing below them. Daylight spilled into the stairwell as Marinette saw Chat grappling with an akuma clad in black Roman legionnaire armor, staff locked against the shaft of a wicked looking spear.

“You know,” Chat wheezed, dodging a stone-shattering punch. “I’m no history buff, but I always thought the Roman Empire was _seriously_ overrated.”

“Ahhh yessir, I’m startin’ to thing that Chat Noir doesn’t live up to the hype either,” The akuma snorted, cocking a mechanism on his right fist and slamming it into the concrete with an exploding crash. “In fact, I de…declare that I’m gonna be the one to finally bring that ring back to Hawkmoth! Believe that!”

“…you’re not the best talker, are you?” Chat said.

“You won’t talk so good either once I put my fist in that mouth of yours, pretty boy,” The akuma sneered, grunting as Chat kicked him off.

“Awww, you think I’m pretty?” Chat cooed. “You're gonna make me bl-”

Chat’s quip died in his throat as he looked up, seeing Marinette pressed against the back of the wall of the stairwell, and fixing her with a look of astonished terror the likes of which she had never seen in their history as partners. Were it not for his literally catlike reflexes, Chat might have been pierced by the akuma’s charging spear attack, but thankfully he managed to vault over him, run up the stairs, and whisk Marinette off her feet as though she was completely weightless.

“What are you _doing_ here?!” Chat panted in her ear as he tore across the rooftop.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Marinette grunted, arms wrapping around his neck. “Chat, I’m fine! Focus on the- _SPEAR!”_

The weapon sailed over their heads as Chat ducked, launching them up over the street and onto the opposite roof as the spear embedded itself in a topiary goat. Darting behind a gardening shed, Chat pressed Marinette against the wall, glancing around the corner to see if they were being followed.

“You shouldn’t be running around out here while there’s an _akuma out_!” Chat said, turning back to Marinette with a concerned frown. “Why aren’t you with the rest of your class?”

“Like a gym is gonna stop Mr. Spears-a-Lot over there,” Marinette said, wiggling out of his grip. “I’ll be fine; go take care of that akuma until Ladybug shows up!”

“Are you kidding me?!” Chat said, sliding an arm around her waist in a gesture that was a little too familiar for Marinette’s liking. “I need to get you somewhere safe!”

“ _Nowhere’s_ safe so long as that lunatic is running around spearing, punching, and…what else can he do?” Marinette asked.

“Not much,” Chat shrugged. “He throws a punch, a spear, and then has to take a rest for a little while; he seems to get winded pretty easily.”

“Right, well, take advantage of his poor stamina and _do something to stop him_ ,” Marinette said, crossing her arms with a stern pout. “I can take care of myself, and getting me back to the school isn’t going to do anything but lure your Roman friend back to where the students are.”

Chat Noir sighed, hands on his hips as he glanced around, apparently for some reason that Marinette wasn’t completely right before letting out a small chuckle. “Why do you have to make so much sense all the time?”

“Someone around here has to,” Marinette snorted, bumping Chat Noir’s shoulder with her fist lightly. “I’ll make my way back to school; just take care of him.”

“Just…be careful,” Chat Noir said softly, hands resting on her shoulders with a small, protective squeeze. “You have too many people who need you to be-”

“HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY KITTY!” The akuma’s booming voice came from a few rooftops over.

“I think that’s your cue,” Marinette said, patting Chat Noir’s chest. “Go get em, tiger.”

“Right…see you later,” Chat said, leaning down and kissing her so quickly and so briefly that Marinette could do nothing but tense, eyes widening as Chat Noir turned and started to walk away. He got only a few feet before realizing what he had done, freezing in his tracks and spinning around with a look of mortification on his face.

“I-I-I didn’t mean to-” Chat stammered as a thundering _boom_ and a scream came from the street over. “I…I think I…”

Chat broke into a run, diving off the roof and down onto the street below like Marinette wished she could do. Instead she just slumped against the wall, fingers pressed against her lips where Chat Noir had kissed her the moment before. And through her haze of shock, bewilderment, and indignation, a single thought echoed in her mind over and over again like the toll of a brassy bell.

_Mint._

Chat Noir had left her with the unmistakable taste of mint lingering on her lips, fresher than the taste Adrien had left her with only minutes ago. Marinette ran her tongue over her lips, tasting the fresh, sweet smudge of lip-gloss on her lips as she stared blankly at Chat Noir’s figure leaping over buildings in the distance.

He kissed her… _Chat Noir_ just…kissed her like he had done it a thousand times before. Like he knew exactly how to dip to get down to her level, how to tilt his head so his nose didn’t bump into hers, and how to apply her preferred amount of pressure; not too hard, not too soft.

 _Perfect_.

“Marinette?” Tikki’s voice came from her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I…” Marinette blinked, head swimming as the pieces slowly fell into place. The funny thing about Chat was that, for all his flirting, he was a profoundly respectful young man. Since she had told him his Lady was off the market, he had dropped all romantic advances, keeping their friendship strictly platonic professional. He just wasn’t the type of person to kiss girls full on the mouth without their permission, which meant…he already _had_ her permission.

And it was at that moment Marinette realized three things about Chat Noir she never really considered before.

1) Chat Noir had pretty green eyes.

2) Chat Noir was unfailingly kind.

3) Chat Noir had soft, pliant lips that tasted _exactly_ like her boyfriends’ when he kissed her.

* * *

Now that she knew, Marinette wondered how it wasn’t obvious the whole time.

Adrien had volunteered to be her model enough that she should have known what he looked like in form-fitting spandex armor. She had napped with him at Alya’s sleepovers enough to see the similarities between Chat Noir’s hair and Adrien’s bedhead. Of _course_ Adrien wasn’t concerned that she disappeared to transform every once and a while; he was probably just as grateful for the chance to change away from his girlfriend’s prying eyes.

All the pieces to the puzzle had been spread out on the table before her, but it had taken one kiss trimmed with minty lip-balm to finally put it all together.

Personally, Marinette thought she deserved an award for making it through the battle without staring dumbstruck at her partner/boyfriend every two seconds. The akuma’s surprisingly limited moveset meant that, even in their discombobulated sates, she and Chat managed to take him down before he turned half the city into a smoking rubble heap. They didn’t talk much after that, exchanging a cursory fist-bump as they both seemed eager to get back to their civilian lives.

Now, sitting on her bed with her unfinished homework spread out on her comforter, Marinette stared blankly into space, wondering what to do with the information that had fallen into her lap.

“I have to tell him,” Marinette muttered as Tikki stress-ate her way through half a tray of cheap, store-bought cookies. “I have to tell him, right?”

“I-I don’t know,” Tikki said through a mouthful of crumbs. “Thish hash never happened befur!”

“What do you mean?” Marinette said, sitting up. “This can’t be the first time Ladybug has figured out who her partner is, right?!”

“Not exactly, but these things usually happen pretty close together,” Tikki said, chugging a thimble of milk and tapping it on the desk for Marinette to refill from her own glass. “I can’t remember a time when only one person knew everything.”

“Does that mean I should tell him about me?”

“ _No!_ ” Tikki said, floating up and looking Marinette in the eye. “Marinette, this doesn’t change anything-”

“My _butt_ it doesn’t!” Marinette scoffed. “My _boyfriend_ is Chat Noir; how am I supposed to sit on that?!”

“That _doesn’t_ change the fact that it’s _safer_ if he doesn’t know,” Tikki said tersely. “If he gets akumitized-”

“What if _I_ get akumitized?” Marinette countered. “The fact that I know who Adrien…who _Chat_ is now puts him in the same danger I would be in if he knew I was Ladybug, right?”

Tikki was silent, folding her arms and scowling down at the mattress in the universal you’re-right-but-I-don’t-like-it gesture. “Cold as it is to say, _you_ are my concern; not Adrien.”

“You’re right; that _is_ cold,” Marinette huffed, snatching the last cookie from the tray and popping it in her mouth.

“No matter _how_ you decided to handle this whole Chat Noir business, Adrien can’t know that you’re Lady-”

_Taptaptap._

Tikki trailed off as a soft, rapping came at Marinette’s bedroom window. Sitting up and clutching an old rolling pin she rescued from the garbage, Marinette crept over to the window, parting the blinds and peering out into the inky blue night, almost laughing at the spectacle before her.

Across the street, some twenty yards away, Chat Noir was perched on the rim of a building, rapping on her window with his extended staff. He shot her a nervous smile and shaky wave as she opened the window, swallowing her anxiety as she leaned out to meet him.

( _It’s just Adrien,_ she reminded herself.)

“H-Hey!” Chat Noir called from across the street. “S-So I, uh, just came over to…well, t-talk to you a-and stuff-”

“Why are you all the way across the street then?” Marinette called back.

“I…w-well, I figured after the, uh…s-stuff that happened this afternoon, it’d be a good idea to give you a little space,” Chat laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. “If you don’t want to talk right now or… _ever,_ I totally get it…”

 _Yep, definitely him,_ Marinette thought with a small sigh. “Look, just come in before you wake up the neighbors,” Marinette said, clearing her desk so he could climb into her room without knocking half her designs over.

“ _Too late,”_ a croaking voice came from an open window below Chat, startling him into nearly dropping his staff.

“Sorry Mrs. Durand!” Marinette called out as Chat anchored his staff between the two buildings and carefully traipsed his way across the narrow beam. Sliding the window open, he tiptoed carefully across her desk, landing with the softest _thump_ on her carpeted floor. “Do you…want to sit or-”

“No, no,” Chat said, waving her off. “I…well, I didn’t even plan on getting this far so…”

Chat wrung his hands together, eyes darting around her room anxiously as though he was looking for some way to make this situation less uncomfortable.

“Um…I-I guess I have some explaining to do, don’t I?” Chat said, biting his lip as he blushed beneath his mask.

“A little bit,” Marinette said, heart pulsing in her ears as two choices hung in the air before her.

“I…I don’t really have an explanation, actually. I had like a weird, out of body moment and-”

He trailed off, clearing his throat before fixing Marinette with an apologetic smile.

“Doesn’t really matter; I shouldn’t have done that,” Chat said, rocking back and forth uncomfortably. “I-I know you have a boyfriend, but even if you didn’t you probably don’t want random guys just kissing on you out of the blue like that…I know you’re probably mad at me-”

“I’m not,” Marinette said, to her surprise and Chat’s. “I’m…not upset with you. Well…I was for a split second right when it happened but-”

Marinette laughed, shaking her head as she looked up at her partner with an uncertain smile. Part of her (the part that sounded like Tikki) wondered if this was the right thing to do, as she stepped forward, fingers threading through Chat’s with a small squeeze.

But, then again, being honest was always the right call.

“I mean…I can’t exactly be mad that my boyfriend kissed me,” Marinette said, biting her lip. “Can I?”

Chat’s eyes widened behind his mask, ears standing straight up on his head as he pulled back out of her grasp. “I…I don’t know what you’re t-talking about,” he stammered with clearly rehearsed look of confusion. “I’m…flattered that you’re interested in me, but I-I don’t think your boyfriend is the sharing type-”

“You don’t have to lie to me,” Marinette said softly, cutting what was shaping up to be a lengthy rant short. “I know it’s you, Adrien.”

He opened his mouth to respond, but the look in her eyes seemed to silence any excuses he could come up with. Deflating a little, quietly let his fingers thread back with hers, giving her hand a small squeeze that seemed to be more for his reassurance than hers.

“I should have figured you would figure it out,” Adrien laughed, looking back up at her with an apologetic shrug. “Probably should have just come clean on the roof, huh?”

“I think we… _you_ had more pressing worries at the moment,” Marinette responded, heart swelling with relief as she reached her free hand out, parting his hair out of his eyes and tucking it behind his ear.

“Kiss gave it away?” Adrien sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

“You do wear a _very_ distinctive flavor,” Marinette giggled, breathing in the faint minty smell of his lip balm. “And I think I’ve kissed you enough to know how it feels.”

“God, that was _dumb_ ,” Adrien snorted bitterly. “I just…I guess I forgot that I wasn’t exactly myself, huh? I’m just so…used to it I guess. It’s like a reflex at this point.”

“Well, I’m glad that you can’t seem to keep your lips off me,” Marinette said, cheeks flushing as she traced the back of his gloved hands. “Are you okay?”

“Are _you_?” Adrien asked, brow creasing behind his mask. “I know this is, like, something I probably should have told you back when we started dating, but…well, Ladybug thought-”

“That you shouldn’t tell anyone?” Marinette asked, before adding. “Not…even me?”

“We’re…fighting an enemy we don’t understand completely,” Adrien said, hands resting on her arms. “All we know is that he isn’t afraid to hurt people to get what he wants…I know we haven’t been dating too long, but if-”

Her throat clenched as a pained grimace flitted across Adrien’s face. “I…totally froze up when I saw you in that stairwell today and I…well-.”

He took a deep breath, as though forcing something unpleasant out of his throat

Marinette was dumbstruck as Adrien voiced the concern that had bubbled inside her for months now. If she was worried about Adrien’s safety before, finding out he was Chat did little to assuage her fears. Despite the fact that he was protected by the same magic she was, he faced the same kind of danger she did on a daily basis-

And even sacrificed his life for her.

In all the confusion, she had completely forgotten that she had come so close to losing Adrien so many times, and the thought of him being crushed, shot, or erased from existence made her stomach lurch unpleasantly and eyes sting.

“Oh, god, did I say something wrong?” Adrien said, gripping her shoulders in panic as her silence lingered. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to keep any of this from you, I just thought- _ooph_!”

Adrien fell backwards onto the fainting couch as Marinette flung her arms around his neck, wrapping him in a tight hug that knocked the wind out of him.

“ _Nothing_ is going to happen to me,” Marinette murmured, fingers gripping the back of his scruffy hair as though he would disappear if she let go. “And _nothing_ is going to change between us.”

She leaned back, cupping his bewildered face in her hands as she stared into his impossibly vibrant green eyes. “I…I can’t pretend I’m happy learning that my boyfriend puts himself in danger every week,” Marinette admitted, tracing the contours of his mask with her fingertips. “But…I can’t be mad that my boyfriend turned out to be the bravest person in Paris, can I?”

“I-I think Ladybug might have me edged out there,” Adrien laughed, looking up at her a little shyly.

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Marinette said with a small laugh.

“Really?” Adrien asked, arching a brow. “Funny; had you pegged for a Ladybug fan.”

“Well,” Marinette said, hands trailing down the front of his chest. “Maybe I’m starting to like Chat Noir a little bit more.”

Adrien blinked, a smile slowly crawling its way across his face. “It’s the suit, isn’t it?”

It wasn’t the suit; the suit didn’t _help,_ but it was a combination of so many things that were hitting Marinette in waves. The suit, the smirk, the fact that her top two male crushes were rolled into one person; all of these little things painted a broader picture of Adrien than she had when she woke up that morning. It wasn’t every day that someone found out that their significant other was braver, stronger, and more wonderful than they had ever considered before, and Marinette wondered if there would come a day when she wasn’t astounded by the person her boyfriend was.

“…it’s because it’s _you_ in the suit,” Marinette said quietly as his smile lost its self-assured quality, melting into a soft, subtle expression that she had fallen in love with so many months before. “Though the suit is a _very_ smart look; I’d like to meet whoever designed it.”

“I’d like to introduce the two of you too,” Adrien said, glancing down at his suit with a small smile. “Maybe the pair of you can help Ladybug design a new suit.”

“If only,” Marinette muttered, shooting the pillow Tikki was hiding behind a small glare. Seized with a strange urge to mess with her boyfriend, Marinette feigned a small frown. “…I don’t have anything to _worry_ about with you and Ladybug, do I?”

“Hm?” Adrien said, looking confused for a moment before flushing pink. “Oh, nonono! No, w-we’re just good friends, that’s all!”

“Reeeeeeally?” Marinette said, raising an eyebrow. “I thought she was your _lady_.”

Adrien laughed, fingers twining with hers as he leaned in a little. “Well…that may be true but, _you_ are my _prrrrrrincess~_ ”

Marinette never thought she would live to see the day where Chat Noir’s nickname for her would make her flush scarlet, and yet she was surprised by the way her heart pounded as she looked into his startlingly green eyes. _This is going to be fun,_ she thought to herself, hands trailing down Adrien’s arms as her phone buzzed on the table next to her.

“I-I think I should get that,” Marinette coughed, fingers gripping the back of Adrien’s arms as he leaned over to pick up her phone.

“You sure it can’t wait?” Adrien chuckled, leaning in for a kiss as Marinette read her screen. “I was _just_ about to prove that you’re the only girl in my-”

Adrien trailed off as Marinette tilted the screen towards him, the Ladyblog’s Twitter feed reading “ _Akuma sighted near the Opera House!”_

“…I really _hate_ Hawkmoth, you know that?” Adrien groaned, reluctantly dragging himself to his feet.

“Then beat it quick so we can get back to our…discussion,” Marinette said, flicking the bell and nodding towards the skylight.

“I’m sure we have a _lot_ to discuss,” Adrien chuckled, scrambling through the window and offering Marinette a hand up. “So I’ll make this quick.”

“Wait!” As he turned to go, Adrien turned back around in time for Marinette to lean up, throw her arms around his neck and pull him down into a brief kiss that lingered for a moment before she murmured “be careful,” against his lips.

“I always am,” Adrien said, climbing up on her balcony with a small salute. “And even if I’m not, Ladybug’s always got my back!”

With that, he fell off the roof, twisting in mid air and landing in a low crouch before springing up onto the opposite rooftop. A few flips later, he was out of sight; just a black spot on the horizon as Tikki floated up onto the balcony.

“Yeah,” Marinette said to herself, looking after him as he rushed headlong into danger. “I always will.”

“…I can’t imagine how hard it was not to tell him,” Tikki said quietly as she leaned on Marinette’s shoulder. “But you made the right decision.”

“I hope so,” Marinette murmured, leaning back with a deep sigh. She hated lying; even by omission, it irked her on a fundamental level in a way that made her skin crawl. Even if it was the smart thing to do for her superhero self, she didn’t know how it would play out for her and Adrien’s relationship. Lies were rarely the foundation of lasting partnerships, and when all was said and done, she hoped that Adrien would understand when she finally told him.

And she _would_ tell him.

Not today, maybe, but one day when Hawkmoth was no more and she didn’t have to worry about her secret identity, the very _first_ thing she was going to do is savor the look of shock on his face when she dropped her transformation.

But for now, she was going to enjoy dating Adrien and Chat Noir while it lasted.

“Come on, Tikki,” Marinette said, nodding towards the city. “Let’s go back my boyfriend up.”

* * *

“Man it’s cold,” Nino grumbled, stamping his feet with his hands deep in his pockets. “When are the girls gonna get here?”

“Want my jacket?” Adrien chuckled, breath billowing from his mouth in a long, visible cloud. “I’m sure Marinette won’t mi-”

“Sorry we’re late!” Alya’s voice called from behind them.

“No worries,” Adrien said, turning around. “We weren’t waiting that lo-”

He trailed off with a soft _purr_ as he took in Marinette’s black and green ensemble, eyes locking with the glittering green cat-eyes embossed on her sweater before trailing down to the paw-prints on her leggings. Even her beanie had two black cat ears sticking up from the top, and as she walked, the sound of tinkling bells jingled from the simple black choker around her neck.

“Whoa, careful dude,” Nino snickered, bumping Adrien out of his daze. “I think Marinette’s got a crush on Chat Noir.”

And though Marinette looked as innocent as possible as she approached, Adrien didn’t miss the small wink she shot him when no one was looking.

 

**Author's Note:**

> *The title is (of course) a pun on Mint Juleps, a tasty American drink made with whiskey, mint, and sugar.


End file.
